


Song of the Sea

by vegalocity



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Drabbles, Gen, More characaters and relarionships to be added, Second person POV, Selkie Frisk AU, Writing in Second person is interesting, drabbles with plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-05-11 08:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegalocity/pseuds/vegalocity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A long time ago, two races ruled over the Earth, Humans and Monsters. We all know this. this is a fact.</p>
<p>But there was a third race, never very strong or enough in numbers to rule, or even stand out. Before the war they were seen as the intermediaries between humans and monsters. The Cryptids. Their souls held the strength of humans, but some had the appearances of Monsters, and some somewhere in between. After the War, the Cryptids’ own median lives saved their species from sharing the fate of the monsters. Slowly, their species died out while living among the humans, forced to conform to their lives, or hunted until extinction.</p>
<p>Nowadays, the existence of the Cryptids are no more than fairy tales to Humans, and all but forgotten to Monsters. So naturally, when you pulled the grey cloak your birth mother had instructed the teachers to give you tighter around your shoulders, the word ‘Selkie’ never came to mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Coat

You knew pretty much nothing about your Biological parents. You’d been dropped off at a Fire Station when you were barely six months old, and sent to a children’s home called Lavender house not long after.

Your name had been pinned to the blanket you’d been wrapped in along with a note that detailed some sort of tradition. The grownups at Lavender House told you this story when you were old enough to understand. When you turned six they would give you something special. Something from your birth mother.

‘But you may not get anything at all if you don’t at least try to talk, Frisk’ they’d coo goodheartedly at you. You tried your hardest to obey them, you really did. But whenever you opened your mouth to speak, your breath caught in your throat.

You heard whispers among the grownups about you, things like ‘Nonverbal’ and ‘selectively mute’ until they came up with a solution.

They taught you sign language when you turned four.

They’d point to something that they once sounded out for you and carefully moved their hands and arms to show you the word in sign.

You were fluent by the time you were five.

When you turned six, the grownups gave in to what they had promised you for three full years, and on your birthday you were given something that they told you was from your mother.

It was a beautiful cloak, absolutely covered in slick grey fur, and somehow perfectly your size.

It smelled like saltwater and the sharp smell of cold weather, and you loved it.

You didn’t want to let go of the beautiful cloak you’d almost immediately wrapped around your shoulders, so you smiled up at one of the teachers and began to mouth ‘thank you’.

When a high, unrecognizable voice came from somewhere behind you, you were confused for a moment before you realized that that voice was your own.

The teachers gasped, your scant few friends gaped at you, You pulled your new cloak closer to your shoulders.

-

For a full year you enjoyed having a voice. And you used the term ‘enjoyed’ very loosely.

Now that the teachers were aware that you could speak they were doing everything in their power to get you to speak all the time.

You really didn’t like talking, it wasn’t that you didn’t like your voice (you actually did like singing now that you could do it) you just didn’t like the sensation of speaking. Your thoughts were much more difficult to assign spoken words to when you knew there was a proper sign to it.

All of the different inflections of the voice were pretty much lost on you, whenever you spoke to your few friends they’d shudder and say your weird ‘monotone’ voice scares them.

Honestly, it was easier for everyone involved if you just signed.

Your teachers weren’t as fond of this setup as your friends were, and decided to try and take away your cloak as incentive for you to try harder.

‘You can get it back if you ask politely, and use your words Frisk!’

When you tried you felt like you were four years old again, opening your mouth to speak, but your breaths feel clogged and you couldn’t make any noise if you wanted to.

Eventually the teacher gave up and accepted your signing and gave you your cloak back. But you still felt it was weird, you thought you were over the whole ‘literally cannot talk’ thing but it came back as if nothing had happened.

You decided to do some experiments.

You waited until you were alone, and you started to sing. Nothing too big, just some old lullaby the teachers sang to the littler kids. Something you’d memorized long before you’d ever known how to sing.

Mindlessly, so mindlessly you barely even noticed, you let your cloak fall away from your body.

Your voice squeaked once and you felt a throbbing pain in your throat. The next thing you knew, your voice had halted entirely.

You learned that you could only speak with your cloak on. You didn’t know why, but you were six years old, and so you were willing to take that as it was.

You also learned that your cloak could change to become what you needed of it if necessary. Some sort of clothing magic that you would have loved to tell everyone, if anyone believed you.

You had just been shrugging off some jerks that kept calling you a ‘hobbit’ and wished idly that your cloak had sleeves, and maybe connected at the front, so it could just be a really long jacket you could eventually grow into.

The next morning you wore up and saw your cloak where it always was when you went to sleep, but now it had a zipper on the inside, and sleeves.

You didn’t know how this magic coat worked, But part of you wondered if it really was made just for you.

So for a full year whenever you wanted to speak you had to make sure you had your coat on. Even when it was kind of hot out, you still felt pleasantly cool with your fluffy gray cloak.

You started getting teased for how much you wore the darned thing, people said it must smell horrible since you never washed it, that you’d wear it out before you outgrew it.

But no stain ever lasted more than a couple of seconds on your coat, and you noticed as you sprouted a couple of inches, that it grew to match you.

Needless to say, you were slowly freaking everyone out. Until eventually, a couple of older kids had finally had enough and demanded explanation.

You tried to explain it to them in signs, but they tugged at your coat and sneered that they knew you could talk, so talk.

So you told them with words, a little more awkward than normal, that you didn’t know how, and you didn’t know why, but your coat made you be able to use your voice, and it did what you wanted from it.

They called you a liar and began to wrestle you out of your coat.

You signed at them to give it back to you, but they laughed and goaded you to try and speak. You opened your mouth to shout for a teacher, but, as usual, nothing came out.

They laughed and held your coat far too high for you to reach.

“You know Freaky Frisk, we may give it back to you! _If_ You… uhhh…” They whispered amongst eachother for a bit before the main bully smiled at you all confidently.

“If you climb Mount Ebbot and make it back alive!” he teased. “Nobody’s done it, so if you make history you can have your freaky coat back.”

And then when you signed that you could jut go to a teacher and get them to give it back the bullies just laughed.

“They make fun of you for this thing behind your back too, dummy! You know what I hear? I hear they call this thing your 'security blanket’ they’re gonna take it away from you soon you know? You need to 'learn independence and talk without it’ besides.” The kid sneered at you “You even try to tell any grownups about this we’ll torch it. Todd found a lighter in Mrs.Tomoe’s purse yesterday.”

You had had no choice.

You just hoped they’d believe you when you came back alive.

Later, you thank your lucky stars that Monsters somehow all know sign language well enough to understand what you try to tell them.


	2. Streaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time you notice it, You’re in Toriel’s home for the first time.

The first time you notice it, You’re in Toriel’s home for the first time. 

The room she’d set up for you just so happened to feature a bed with the warmest quilt you’d ever felt and you could practically hear the melody of a lullaby playing softly in the distance. When you lie down in the darkness you can't help but reflect on what you'd experienced these past few hours.

First, a talking flower had tried to kill you, only to have your butt be saved by a giant goat lady with fire powers. 

It felt surreal. Like, maybe those flowers that had broken your fall hadn't actually done much, you'd maybe conked your head, and now you were hallucinating. Maybe you were still lying in that pit, surrounded by beautiful yellow flowers, slowly bleeding out and those punks who'd been holding your coat hostage would get to keep it. 

A small burst of anger flooded through your gut at that thought, so you quickly tried to think of something else. At the very least, the distraction came easily.

You noted that every so often there was some weird little voice in the back of your head you didn't remember ever hearing before. 

When you'd started figuring out how to SAVE and LOAD, you could hear it sometimes, narrating what you were doing. Whenever you got near the SAVE points, the little voice would say something about what was around you and always added “fills you with Determination” At the end. And while sometimes it made sense, like playing in the leaves, or the mouse and the cheese, other times it didn't make much sense at all.

You hadn't felt particularly determined when you'd first entered the Ruins, and seeing Toriel's home only filled you with relief. 

It was the same voice that whispered into the back of your mind whenever you wondered what a Monster was like. The one that said Life was hard for a Froggit, and that encouraged you to call Toriel 'Mom'. 

It was also the voice that would throw out the idea that you could probably kill something if you wanted to.

You decided that your intrusive thoughts were informative, but very weird.

You turned over once in the bed, to lie on your stomach, and something caught your eye.

A tiny fleck of silver against the golden light through the crack in the door. But, you were too tired to inspect anything else about it. So you went to sleep instead.

When you woke up some time later, the first thing you noticed was a slice of pie on the ground. Eagerly, you picked the piece up and smelled it. Cinnamon Butterscotch. Just as Toriel had promised you.

You considered eating the pie immediately, but noticed after you checked yourself you really weren't hungry, so you stored it in your shorts pocket for later.

It clacked a bit with the Monster candy you'd picked up, as well as the spider doughnut you'd tentatively bought (Truth be told you were afraid of spiders, but Monster Spiders seemed like they just wanted to sell pastries, so you supposed they were okay)

When you left the room ( _Your_ Room? How long did Toriel expect you to stay with her? She seemed nice, but you couldn't exactly move underground without telling the Teachers at Lavender House, besides, you still needed your coat back.) you decided to move further down the hall.

The next room was Toriel's. It was just as you'd expected, neat and clean. But you did happen to notice a couple of fairly terrible puns scribbled into a Journal resting on the desk. 

The next room over was locked. For Refurbishing, as far as the sign hung on the door said. You couldn't help but wonder why Toriel, who seemed to live alone, would need to refurbish the rooms in her home anyway. 

But just a little beyond that last door, there was a long mirror.

Huh... you couldn't help but wonder how you looked. After all falling from such a height, flowers or not, you must have taken at least a bit of damage. 

You huffed as you turned your head this way and that in the mirror. Your hair was maybe getting a bit longer than you'd like it to be. It was starting to form those vaguely matted clumps that you hated. 

Your clothes were a little banged up, your favorite sweater was all covered in mud and so were your shorts.

But, it was you after all... so not too shabby in the end.

And then something else caught your eye.

It was small, easy to miss if you weren't looking, but stood out all the more for you.

You turned your head to the side and furrowed your brow to closer inspect. A streak of grey.

You had grey hairs. 

What? That didn't make any sense! You weren't even ten yet and grey hairs only happen to old people! You practically felt offended, convinced for a moment that the mirror was wrong or one of the monsters back in the Ruins had played a nasty prank on you, before gently gripping the streak between your finger and holding in your line of sight. 

Nope. It was really truly grey, no rubbing would get any sort of paint or dust off of it. You just... simply had grey hairs now.

You grumbled to yourself as you turned around and started to explore the rest of the house.

Toriel's room aside it didn't feel very lived in. Like she only slept in that room and then barely ever spent time inside. Even a few of the picture frames in the house were blank, you couldn't help but wonder how long Toriel had been down here with such an impersonal home... 

In the middle of the house there was a long staircase heading straight below, and while you were indeed very curious about what that place entailed, you opted instead to check it out once you were done exploring the whole floor. 

So instead you went straight, toward the crackling sound of fire. 

Like every room, the Fireplace room was scant beyond the well stocked bookshelf, as well as a big cushy chair, perfect for Toriel to sit in. 

And she was. A pair of reading glasses perched on her nose (Snout? She looked somewhat Goat-like, but at the same time.. almost dragon-like.. so you couldn't really tell which fit better) But she looked up form whatever it was she was reading and smiled at you. 

You felt bad for having to ask how to leave so soon, but you knew you couldn't stay here forever. 

You tried backing off after noting how quickly Toriel had tried to change the subject, but that little voice in the back of your head came back and reminded you that she'd just change the subject over and over if you didn't keep trying.

So you did. 

You wondered what would have happened if you hadn't followed Toriel down to the basement, if You'd just gone back to the room she'd had ready and gone back to sleep. 

But what was done was done. 

She'd only killed you once, you'd lost a lot of HP in one turn and had collapsed, right before you'd blacked out you'd seen her clasp her hands over her mouth in horror. You mumbled to yourself when you woke up in front of Toriel's home in the ruins, you were lucky you'd had the mind to SAVE before you followed her down to the basement.

well, at least this time you made it through the battle alive.

You signed a silent goodbye to Toriel, even though she was walking away and couldn't see you.

Maybe if you'd stayed she would have been a good mom, but you'd never find out now.

You'd heard her humming to herself when she'd been reading, and you wished you could have joined in. 

Now that you'd started you probably couldn't stop. The second you went through those doors you could never go back again. 

“You think just because you spared _one_ Life, you've got it all figured out?” Flowey taunted you. You huffed angrily and ran a hand through your hair. 

That pesky grey streak flopped in front of your eyes again and, while your legs were still tensed to bolt in case Flowey tried anything, you tuned the annoying little flower and tucked the streak behind your ear.

Had it gotten bigger or were you just imagining things?

Flowey kept going on, about how he was the prince of this world and blah blah blah. But at least he didn't try to fight you again. He left and you were free to keep going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing about mythology is that all interpretations of it are valid, and this one, in specific is based on the movie Song of the Sea (and yes, that's there the title comes from)


	3. Signing Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small Interlude...

You were pretty sure you didn't miss your coat more than when you were wandering through Snowdin. The only place that came close to the comfortable warmth you'd normally have with the fuzzy grey article, was Grillby's. 

The barkeep, being made of fire, probably helped that feeling along. 

He didn't seem to speak much, if at all, either. And you liked that.

Another patron of the bar was trying to tell you what he was saying, but you noticed he wasn't actually interpreting, just making guesses. He probably didn't know at all.

Carefully, you climbed up onto one of the bar stools, close enough to Grillby for you to be able to see his arms clearly and he could see yours.

You signed hello to him. 

He turned his head slightly to show that he noticed you, but didn't speak or sign back, just went back to cleaning the pint glass he'd been wiping off.

“He offered you some hot chocolate, you don't seem very used to the weather.” The bar patron supplied and you took a moment to wave him off before focusing on Grillby again.

You hated it when people spoke for you without actually interpreting, you couldn't help but think the same must be true.

So you kept signing.

You told him your name was Frisk, and you made sure to spell it out carefully.

There was a bit of a pause, the the bartender carefully put his pint glass down and turned to you.

_'Nice to meet you. I'm the owner of the bar. My name is Grillby.'_ You smiled widely at him.

Maybe you could have taken a nap instead in the inn you'd passed earlier, but it wasn't very often at all that you'd get to speak to another person entirely in sign.

At least you weren't alone in that sentiment. Grillby wasn't trying to send you away or imply that since you were a child you should be running along and 'doing child things' as your teachers had always so kindly put it.

You watched intently as Grillby recanted a story about how the star of the Underground, Mettaton, had once tried to get him to decorate his bar with promotional material for his newest show, and then threw a hissy fit about how bars are overrated on live TV when he'd turned him down.

You explained your own plight about how you can only use your voice when you have your coat, and some bullies stole it from you. You didn't care about the whole speaking part of the situation, but you explained that the coat made you feel safe in a way you just don't necessarily feel normally.

He used the same word that the Teachers used. 

'Security Blanket'

But he wasn't condemning in it. He looked just... pensive.

He then told you about his Cousin, a girl in Hotland (wherever that was) who had the same situation with a ribbon she always wore tied around her wrist. She'd gotten at least three detentions for Dress Code violations in school for 'distracting accessories' but she claimed she didn't feel focused without it.

That was nice then, to know you weren't a freak, and it wasn't bad to feel safe with something special on your person. So you thanked Grillby for sharing that with you, and you asked him what his favorite story was when dealing with customers.

Maybe it was the warmth in the pub making you extra comfy, compared to how cold it was outside and how long you'd walked in the snow until you'd finally reached Snowdin, but your eyes were starting to feel a little heavy, and you began to quietly bite back yawns.

But, eventually, your sleepy eyes didn't go unnoticed, and your new friend insisted you head over to the inn for a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk I always saw Grillby as Selectively Mute or Partially Nonverbal. I mean he's only every said one thing without that Bird Bar patron 'translating' for him, and that was to tell Frisk they did well if you go back to Snowdin after the True End.
> 
> So Grillby and Frisk for ASL buddies


	4. Odd Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dog beds make for surprisingly good pillows

Papyrus was really good at not letting you die against him. You'd even fallen against Toriel before she'd let you go, even though she'd purposefully miss you after you got hurt enough. Really, you couldn't help but wonder what happened in Papyrus' life to give him such acute control over his powers. 

That voice in the back of your head jokingly told you to try and flirt with him during the first fight, and really, it was a funny idea. You really didn't know how old Papyrus was anyway, and one of your friends did teach you a pickup line in sign that they'd learned from one of the teachers just to help you practice with more 'casual' things.

But you'd ended up being taken seriously, and now Papyrus was sure you'd have to go on a date now.

The voice in the back of your head was snickering for the rest of the fight about how Papyrus was preparing for 'the date' before you'd gotten your butt handed to you the first time. You were still getting used to the whole having to jump over the bones thing, and you really weren't as good as you normally were.

But, instead of finishing you off, you hearing that voice calling for someone you didn't know, and then waking up at the Save Point you had set up a bit ago, He stopped. He cut his own attack turn short, saying something about not wanting to continue because you were too weak.

You blacked out, and when you woke up your head was resting in a fuzzy dog bed. There was a note by your head talking about how you were his prisoner now.

It was easy enough to 'escape' the woodshed, you could jut walk through the bars, and then the door turned out to only lock from the inside. 

You ended up having to face Papyrus again, and he seemed legitimately relived that you hadn't gotten lost and turned up where he'd been waiting. 

You noticed with a small prick of anxiety, he was clearly stronger than he looked. For a moment he'd summoned two weird, skull looking things that frankly terrified you, but had quickly gotten rid of them before they'd joined in the attack. The voice in the back of your head chuckled that he'd prepared a non-bone related attack and took a minute to 'clean up his mistake'

You ended up loosing and dropping to 1 HP again, you didn't black out this time, but you were really dizzy. You ended up falling asleep when Papyrus lifted you up and carried you back to his woodshed.

The note when you woke up clearly asked you to ask permission before you escaped now, because you'd worried him earlier.

You couldn't help but wonder which of the skeleton brothers was older as you meekly bought another Cinnamon Bunny from the shop and headed off in the direction of the fight again. Sans gave off a 'big brother' kind of vibe, like Donnie with Dylan back at Lavender House, but Papyrus seemed really intent on taking care of people. So really it could go either way.

You were worried about getting your butt handed to you again; but hey, third time's the charm after all, right? It's not like you were dying anyway, so you didn't have to worry about loosing any progress.

You ended up dropping to 1 HP again, silently cursing your inability to just Jump dangit.

Papyrus stopped himself mid-turn again. 

This time you didn't black out and you weren't too dizzy, so you just laid there in the snow and closed your eyes.

You heard a sigh of exasperation and the approach of footsteps. 

“Honestly, we are due for a date already, but if they just need a place to stay...” For a skeleton, Papyrus was surprisingly warm. You felt sleepy again, maybe just as a little left over exhaustion from before, but you were half dozing when you were put back in the woodshed. 

After your third loss the dog bed pillow was actually starting to grow familiar, there was nothing wrong with quick nap right?

This time you could feel something fuzzy being carefully put over your body. Was that a blanket? You sighed happily and curled up around the article, enjoying the warmth it provided. 

Just barely cracking an eye open you smiled weakly at Papyrus and sleepily signed a quick 'thanks' before turning your head and falling back asleep. 

“No need to thank me, Human!” You heard him announce, thankfully, quietly, so he didn't break you out of your zone. “The Great Papyrus is nothing if not a masterful host!”

But you were already asleep.

You had an odd dream.

-

You were sitting with Toriel, you had a bunch of yarn spooled between your hands, and she was knitting from the spool. She was humming a song that you recognized, one of your favorites actually. 

You could smell Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie in the air and the warm fire in the hearth (and the lucid part of your brain agonized over putting your slice of pie in the Special Box instead of finally eating it) 

You worded along to the song, no voice to join in. Toriel didn't seem to mind though, she just looked pleased that you were trying.

Maybe you could have stayed with her. She would have been a good mom, you maybe could have stayed in the ruins with her. You maybe could have been happy.

So what if you wouldn't have had your voice? You would have a home for once. Wasn't that worth it? 

Just as this thought entered your dream state, Toriel looked up from her knitting and looked at you worriedly, putting down the needles and reaching for you.

“My child...?” She asked quietly, big hand resting on your shoulder.

You tilted your head, about to ask Toriel what was wrong, when your hair moved in front of your eyes, you stared in astonishment when you noticed that the wisps of hair in front of you had turned silver.

Toriel had been staring at your hair, even now she reached to the side of your head and pulled away a lock of your hair. Silver and shiny like steel. 

“My Child, I believe it's your time to return to where you belong.” She didn't sound sad, or worried anymore, just resigned. Toriel sighed and signaled for you to follow her.

In the room at the end of the hall, the one closed for refurbishing, she rummaged around for a bit while you waited. You rocked back and forth on your heels, made a song in your head that you'd never get to share, sometimes making silly faces at yourself in the mirror.

When the door opened again, it wasn't Toriel that came out. But a human woman.

She had brown hair like yours, and eyes like yours, but her skin was a little darker, and unmarred by the small freckles that dotted your cheeks. She was wearing a pure white coat that looked like it was made from the same stuff and your coat, But the fluffy hood hid most of her hair from you. You could only really see her bangs.

She smiled down at you with a type of motherly caring you'd only ever seen on Toriel before, And when she spoke it was with Toriel's voice too; though it didn't necessarily suit her, like she was simply borrowing Toriel's voice because she couldn't use her real one.

“My Darling little Frisk.” She cooed gently and kneeled down to your level.

“I wish I could swim with you.” She smoothed your hair back, and you could see from the corner of your eye, one or two small streaks of your hair had turned back to brown under her hands.

“Find your skin again. Don't let our people die with you.” The woman that you assumed was your Birth Mother, opened part of her coat and reached inside, when her hand came out she was holding your coat.

You held still as she carefully placed the grey garment over your shoulders.

“You are a ______” You were never very good at reading lips, and your birth mother fell startlingly silent when she spoke that word “As am I. You and I were the last, but now it is only you. Frisk, retrieve your skin, regain your voice. ____. Stay determined.”

You were about to speak, about to ask her what you had to do after getting your voice back, but she pulled the hood so that it covered her face. And then suddenly it was Toriel again.

“Shall we go for a small swim?”

-

You woke up in the shed again, but you were warm. It turned out the blanket was this really fuzzy fleece thing with little bones embroidered along it. 

There was a note beside your 'pillow' and you scanned over it quickly.

_'If you're just looking for a place to stay... Just ask!!! You don't need to fight me!!! -Your host, Papyrus.'  
_

You couldn't fight the small smile at that. That was... really nice actually. You'd wondered earlier if you could truly befriend Papyrus, but now you were pretty sure you could. 

After all, he was really careful not to kill you, so it's not like you'd lost any of your progress in befriending him. (And he did owe you that 'date' after all) 

When you walked toward where you'd be fighting him again, you hoped this time you could talk him out of it before the fight even began. 

All thoughts of that strange dream gone from your mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Frisk's Birth Mother had already died by the time they were left at Lavender House. There's a lot of conflicting views on how Selkies reproduce, so that's still up for debate.


	5. The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A breif flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So as it turns out i have not abandoned this story! I actually have a few drabbles I've been holding back from publishing to work on other projects, so I'm going to be posting those for a bit. Song of the Sea isn't a priority of mine so after I post all the pre-made chapters it might be awhile until the next one, but know I haven't given up on it just yet! There aren't near enough Undertale AUs that are focused on it's darling protagonist and I refuse to give up on the one that I have.

You'd been playing with one of your few friends when the teacher walked in on your game. It hadn't been anything serious of course, you were pretending to be fairytale creatures and you would fight eachother. 

You were a kracken, a giant octopus with water powers, and he was a pheonix, a bird that can be reborn if it dies and has fire powers. 

The teacher, Ms. Browning, smiled at you both and told you to find your swimsuits. Lavender House won some sort of charity thing, and they had enough extra money after paying everything off to take everyone to the beach for the day.

You and your friend, Joey, had smiled widely at eachother before you raced to your respective rooms to change into your bathing suits. 

You hadn't been comfortable with the swimsuits the teachers had even you when you were little, the colors and the forms of the outfits made you feel weird, so they were able to scrounge together a wet suit shirt and shorts for you to go swimming with, and you were considerably more comfortable with that. 

So, you changed into your black and blue swimsuit and re-secured your coat onto yourself before you ran out to the front room.

You heard some kids chuckling at how you'd be wearing your coat when you'd learn how to swim, but you ignored them and happily accepted the towel you were given, with green and blue flowers on it. 

The beach, as it turned out, was only really fun if you already knew how to swim.

Most of the littler kids were making sand castles, and a lot of the older kids were collecting shells along the shores, but most of the kids your age were swimming. 

The thing was, you had never learned to swim. 

When you were four they tried to teach you, along with all of the other kids your age who had never learned. You did the strokes and the kicks perfectly, you could hold your breath for longer than anyone else in the class; but no matter what you would sink like a stone. The teachers strapped water wings to you, but somehow the darn things lost air seconds after they were on your arms. Innertubes were much the same, Pool noodles would slip from your grasp almost the second you hit the water, 

Mrs. Tomoe finally shook her head and patted yours. “I guess it's not for everyone” she'd insisted. 

So, when you were all at the beach you knew you weren't going to be doing any swimming. Maybe chasing the waves and trying to get along with the older kids. At the very most you'd probably just be playing around in the undertow.

And that, actually, was just where you'd found yourself. 

Joey had decided to swim out as far as he could, which left you alone to let the waves wash over you, but carefully staying in places where you could easily stand up if you needed to.

You took a deep breath as the next wave crested over your nose and head. You'd have about thirty seconds until the tide pulled back enough for you to breathe again.

As usual, your eyes were pinched shut, to avoid the salt water stinging your eyes, until the smallest voice in the back of your head began to wonder what it would be like to open your eyes underwater. Hey, maybe you were just feeling a little adventerous, but you decided to obey the little voice.

It was wierd, the water didn't hurt your eyes. 

Underwater was... well... it was strange. You could see pieces of seaweed floating around, and sand kicked up by your playing. 

The silver flash of a fish's tail caught your eye for a moment before the edge of water finally lowered beneath your eyes.

You blinked once, rubbing your left eye with a fist, but strangely, there was nothing to get out of your eyes. The salt water didn't burn like the chlorine water in the pool close to Lavender House did.

You were pretty sure that that wasn't normal.

But, you'd kept your mouth shut about a lot of things before, that time Joey snuck a kitten into the House without Mr. Bennet knowing, or the time Katie and Kathy stole some of Ms. Browning's fudge right out from under her nose.

You could keep a secret.

So, instead of going to one of the teachers with your problem, you'd kept your eyes open as the waves washed over your head again. 

You could see a little sand crab shuffling along somewhere to your right, and the water was clear enough to see a decent amount into the distance, so you decided to see if there was anything interesting. 

You were a little dissappointed when the tides rushed back and you hadn't found a single interesting thing.

So, instead you scooted a little closer in the sand, you'd be underwater for a little longer the closer you were to the sea, And you could still stand up if something happened.

Of course at this point, you were almost entirely submerged, up to your neck in water at the low tide, so it made it a little harder for you to take your breath when the next wave came toward you. But you were able to get it in without sending any salt water down your throat. 

You weren't dissappointed a second time.

You could see something grey in the distance. You couldn't make it out for a second, but it swam past a well placed beam of light and you realized it was a Seal.

You smiled slightly and a few bubbles rose from your mouth.

The Seal was quite a few yards away from you, but you could see it's beady black eyes practically boring into your own. 

There was something... calming about it. Like you could scoot even closer to the sweet thing and just go swimming with it, your penchant for sinking aside.

A weird feeling started to pile up in your chest, Like... something about this sweet little seal steadily drifting towards you was completely natural. Like it was how it should be. 

Your smile widened as a few stray bubbles rose from your pinched lips. When the seal began to drift closer, you felt a small spike of excitement begin to lace your gut. Was that what today's adventure would be? Make friends with a Seal? How exciting!

You held open a hand to beckon it even closer still, when a sharp hand grabbed you by the scruff of your neck and pulled you upright.

You gasped in shock, your breath not even close to uneven, water ran heavily down your one weightless feeling hair as one of your teachers began to yell at you for wandering off.

You couldn't take your eyes off of the horizon, you couldn't really even bring yourself to listen to your teacher. The only thing you could focus on was the Seal. You'd barely been able to catch another quick glimpse of the creature before your head had surfaced but it had looked... sad almost. It made something in your gut turn to think that you had upset the seal by not being able to join it any further.

It was weird. You sink like a stone when you get past your neck underwater, but somehow you knew, you _knew_ that if you had let the seal come to you, it would have kept you from drowning.

Something about swimming with the creature, the idea just felt so... right.

But, unfortunately, you ended up being placed on the sand, ontop of your towel, with your coat bundled up underneath you as a pillow, now forbidden from even getting near the shore, let alone chasing the tide like the other kids were starting to do as the sun began to set.

The sun, or rather, what was left of the sun, heated your cheeks uncomfortably as you curled a little tighter around yourself.

You wanted to go back into the water again.

That feeling of peace... that feeling of belonging... you wanted that to come back. 

But the teachers called for everyone to round up their gear, and within minutes, you were shoving into one of Lavender House's many Children Vans, and were taken back home.


	6. A vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel wasn't a seer, but she could recognize a vision when it came to her.

Toriel was on edge, that much was certain. She could barely concentrate, even when doing her usual rounds of the ruins, peacekeeping between the creatures that lived there and checking 'The Meadow' for any humans that may end up falling down.

She knew exactly what was troubling her, though she tried her hardest to not think of it. The last human child, Frisk, they had been... well, she couldn't put her finger on it, but something about them had _felt_ different. To the point where part of Toriel had wondered if they even were fully human at all.

Maybe that was just her own lonely mind looking for an explanation for why she'd wanted the quiet child to stay with her.

In the end she supposed her attachment to Frisk had been that they were familiar in a way that the other humans that had fallen down here had not been. They had been about the same age, about the same fashion choices...

She really was just a lonely old crone wasn't she? The closest thing to interaction she'd gotten in so long beyond lost humans had been that voice on the other side of the ruins door. Sans, he'd said his name was. Well, she supposed he was the closest thing to a friend she had.

Since it seemed as though she couldn't keep a single human safe as they passed through this place.

It took Toriel a moment to realize she'd been rereading the same line in her book at least a dozen times before she'd simply shut the it with a sigh. 

The smell of her signature Cinnamon Butterscotch pie was still in the air, something she wasn't sure if she could enjoy after just sending another human off to their possible death. Or more likely, their inevitable death.

She'd really thought for a moment that this one would stay.

But! Enough with that train of thought, she checked her clock and realized that it was about sunset on the surface now, just about time to check The Meadow again.

That pesky flower, thankfully, hadn't dared show it's face again. 

As usual, she peeked through the door into The Meadow, expecting to just see nothing and head back toward Home. 

The only time there had ever been two humans coming down in such a short time had been the twins. And they came within minutes of eachother.

So, naturally, she was surprised when she saw a speck of grey against the yellow flowers.

Opening the door fully, Toriel hummed in confusion to herself and carefully walked forward. Lying there in the meadow, was something different.

A fluffy grey coat. Just big enough to fit a child. Toriel pinched her lips in thought. Had Frisk left this on accident? Well, they probably wont return to retrieve it if they did, she did make them promise not to after all.

But then, oh it was so cold in Snowdin, and Waterfall was very wet, what if they caught something because they'd forgotten their jacket here?

Toriel's fingers twitched over the fuzzy garment as she began to walk back through the Ruins and toward Home. 

Should she go after them? She'd promised herself she would not return, and for all she knew Frisk could have already been dead (though a shudder of dread crawled down her spine at that thought) Would it be worth breaking her silent vow? And after all... it was just a coat. She could probably just put it with the other clothes in the old room and offer it to the next human child that came down here.

She was lost in her thoughts for quite some time as she was walking, rife with indecision on what to do next, only snapped from her own mind when there was a clatter from behind her. 

Toriel turned, smiling in false good humor. It was probably a Froggit tailing her. Those little creatures held her in some sort of Idol regard, too intimidated to speak to her but too enamored to ignore her. Some of them were actually prone to following her.

But... strangely, there was nothing. 

That was odd... 

Toriel hummed to herself and kept walking, taking the time to inspect the coat. But this time, kept her ears well tuned behind her.

There was a rustle, the pitter patter of claws against stone.

Toriel huffed, just a bit of annoyance pricking her gut, as she raised her free hand, and summoned a fireball.

“I do not appreciate being stalked; if you are cowardly enough to hide yourself, show your face or leave me be. I am not in the most patient of moods.”

This time when Toriel turned there was something behind her.

A large dark bird with eyes wide and saucers, an owl if she remembered correctly.

It stood there for a moment, blinking up at her intelligently.

Toriel recalled her fireball, and the owl tilted it's head, as though it knew exactly what she could do to it and was curious as to why she hadn't already attacked. Did owls get that big? It had been a long time since she'd seen such creatures...

“Ah, did you fly down here looking for a mouse?” She tried for a gentle, somewhat relived smile. 

The owl blinked up at her and ruffled it's wings. It began to crane it's neck at her until it was clearly pointing toward the coat with it's beak.

What did it want with the coat?

“Were... you going to use this for your nest then?” The owl tilted it's head again, and for a moment was practically staring at her upside down. 

“The Selkie.”

Well... that wasn't usual for an owl was it?

She didn't remember there being any Owl monsters in the Ruins before she'd started leaving the doors shut, and she'd certainly never seen this one before. This bird didn't really look like any avian monster she'd ever seen, to be honest. 

But normal Surface Owls didn't talk if her memory served her correctly. 

How odd

“I'm Sorry?”

“The Selkie lost their coat. The Selkie cannot return to the waves without their coat. Without their skin the Selkie will sink.”

Before Toriel could even get a word in edgewise the Owl had raised it's wings, a wind came as though summoned by the Owl itself, and began to cover the room in deep brown feathers.

Toriel lifted a hand to shield her face, the other still clutching the coat in her arms. The shower of feathers seemed to swarm around the strange owl, just as it was blocked from sight the wind began to die down.

And all that was left was the mound of dark feathers, and a Whimsun that had gotten caught up in the whirlwind. 

It seemed like the decision was just made for her. 

So, Toriel took a deep breath, checked the Whimsun to make sure it wasn't injured, and strode back to her house.

But she'd make herself a cup of tea before she started her journey. Build up her nerve. 

She'd never received a vision before. Such magic wasn't her strong suit, especially because of it's scarcity after the war, but what else could such an event be called?

An Owl, something she'd only seen when she was very young—in the blurry stretches of her memories before they were sealed below—Had come to her after she'd picked up what seemed to be Frisk's coat, and then started speaking in cryptic. 

'Selkie'? What was a Selkie? Was Frisk not entirely human? Had Toriel been right? What did the owl mean by 'returning to the waves'? 

Could Frisk not swim without this coat?

She supposed there was only one way to find out.


	7. Dreams ever stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight you should have known you were dreaming from the beach alone.

You'd been running from Undyne; the Captain of the Royal Guard if what Papyrus said was right. You couldn't think beyond avoiding the spears she'd set to summon beneath your feet, you ran into at least four dead ends before she'd finally cornered you.

Maybe she hadn't anticipated you being hardy enough to survive the fall, maybe she'd overestimated how high up you both were, then again, maybe she was just being dramatic.

You felt your body hit what felt like a soft grove of flowers, and you heard the flow of a waterfall, you could just barely see the glint of her armor in the distance before you'd blacked out.

You heard a voice you didn't know, felt soft hands gently lift you up and help you stand. The voice asked your name, but you could barely move your hands, let alone sign.

Then they responded as if you had answered, but they called you that name you didn't know, the one you kept being called when you'd die.

You didn't get to hear the voice's name before a white light surrounded you.

Then your gaze focused and you realized the white light was actually the snow.

You were in Snowdin, curled up on the porch of Sans and Papyrus' house.

You were confused for a moment, Why had you taken a nap here? It didn't seem very smart. Were you just waiting for Sans and Papyrus to come home? You probably could have curled up in the shed and been a little warmer. 

You reached your arms up and pulled your coat a little tighter around your shoulders, the comforting warmth of the garment immediately putting your worried mind at ease.

You supposed if you were already waiting, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little bit longer.

The door clattered open behind you and you jumped in place before whipping around to see what it was. 

“Human! We Have Acquired Our Equipment For Swimming And Are Ready To Join You!”

“hey kiddo” 

You smiled at the two boys, standing as quickly as you could without tripping over the tails of your coat. There were a pair of towels hanging from Papyrus' arms and Sans had traded in his slippers for a pair of slip on sandals. 

You couldn't entirely remember what you three had apparently planned to do, but apparently you were going swimming? 

So, of course, you dutifully followed behind them. 

Before you knew it you three were at a beach, the sun shining bright and the sky a cloudless blue.

Papyrus was carefully rolling out the second towel, Sans was already laying flat on the first, his jacket bundled up under his head as a makeshift pillow. 

You smiled slightly and caught up with the brothers, taking off your coat to lay it on the sand on Papyrus' other side. 

The second the coat slipped from your shoulders he was staring at you with some sort of... weird look. 

Confusion, you supposed....

“Human? Why Have You Removed Your Fur? You Will Be Needing It For Swimming Later!” He tilted his head at you like a confused puppy and to be fair he wasn't alone.

Your Fur? Did he mean your coat? You weren't much of a swimmer, you could never seem to get the hang of it back in Lavender House. You'd kick your feet and stroke your arms, but you just sank. You'd just assumed you'd be playing in the sand and maybe the undertow for a little bit.

But, nonetheless, you slipped your arms through the sleeves of your coat again, and Papyrus nodded in approval.

“Now That You Are Prepared, We Shall Go On A Swimming Adventure! The Great Papyrus And His Great Human Friend!” he boomed, lifting you into his arms with a flourish. You squeaked and gripped at his shoulders nervously.

Sans chuckled from his position on the towel. 

“bro you know they're not human. i don't _seal_ why you keep calling 'em that.” Papyrus frowned a little at Sans, and you were confused for a moment as to why he'd said 'Seal' instead of 'see'. Was that a pun? But Seals had nothing to do with this...

Was Sans losing his touch? You smiled to yourself, and were about to sign just that at him when Papyrus spoke again.

“Oh Brother! You Should Know By Now That 'Human' Simply Rolls Off The Proverbial Tongue Better Than 'Selkie'! I Am Aware That The Human Isn't Actually Human, But It's More Catchy!”

“eh sure, as long as it's got the kid's seal of approval”

Papyrus groaned and shifted his grip on you.

Selkie?

You woke up in a small bushel of water flowers, head half submerged in the slow water and the smell of garbage rot heavy in the air. 

You couldn't even remember most of your dream. Sans and Papyrus were there... or maybe that was Donnie and Dylan. 

You were called something. Selkie. In your dream you were something called a Selkie. 

You don't actually know what a Selkie is, so you get to your feet and begin to wring your sweater out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is the last of the backlog of chapters I have. After this the new chapters will be a far slower pace, I have a lot of other projects so this is on the backbruner. But I'm not doing any of that permanent hiatus stuff, I am not giving up on this AU, I'm too fond of Frisk being a Selkie.

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from my tumblr, for you to enjoy.
> 
> Well technically it's only supposed to be setup, answer the question of what Frisk was doing on Mt. Ebbot in the first place, and throw in some Selkie Mythos while it's at it.
> 
> (And those of you following my other fics, don't worry, Equivalent Exchange is still first in my heart and checklist)


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